Posts Tagged ‘acceptance’

We share the same humanity, we share our need for purpose, identity and community – even if we prefer our own company and solitude. Our lives consist of ebb and flow, coming and going, life and death. We may struggle to make our mark, to make ends meet, to be creative and fulfilled. We have dreams, hopes, disappointments, drama and trauma. Often, we look from afar to others for support and guidance, and are attracted by their creative expression, wisdom and aura. “We absolutely have to tell the world, show the world, that there is a collective responsibility to act. We share the same humanity and we cannot continue to allow economic wars to be fought on women’s bodies.”

Today is International Women’s Day and as such I would like to honor all the (professional) woman in my life, past and present, who have fueled, organized, and grown the businesses I have teamed up with over the course of my career. These women have enabled my personal and professional growth and have also allowed me to see the world through another’s eyes. For this, and the countless other ways these women enhance our businesses, our industries, our communities, and our lives, I thank them, today, and every day.

Imagine the 600 Million illiterate people living in the poorest, off-grid rural villages and neighborhoods in need of major change. While change began years ago with the proliferation of small home solar systems that provide energy access, today Kumbaya has laid the ground work for accessibility to not only the much-needed power and light, but also to “network connectivity’ that ensures access to the basic necessities to transform illiteracy in to knowledge. At Kumbaya, our focus is developing the technologies to ensure we have a platform that allows our user to acquire the necessary skills and basic education.

Why education? Despite great progress in the last few years, millions of children are still denied their right to education. Restricted access to education is one of the surest ways of transmitting poverty from generation to generation. Education is a vital human right. Every girl and every boy should have the right to a quality education so that they can have more opportunities in life, including employment, better health and the possibility to participate in the political process. At Kumbaya, we believe the most important period to acquire the basics are the first years. This is when we must ensure that children learn to read, count, and acquire the necessary life skills to form the basic fundaments for continued learning throughout their lives.

Children who have access to quality early childhood programs do better in primary school and will have better academic outcomes later. It is vital that low and lower middle-income nations invest more in affordable early childhood programs.

Our Kumbaya connected platform was designed for the most vulnerable and marginalized groups, those who are most likely living in rural off grid communities and affected because of a lack of electrification and connectivity. In most of these areas, the high illiteracy rates are due to non-existent or unsuitable education infrastructure, lack of trained teachers and inadequate learning materials.

We are often asked, “Why is educating girls in rural Africa your emphasis?”

Educated girls and women tend to be healthier, have fewer children, earn more income and provide better health care for themselves and their future children. These benefits also are transmitted from generation to generation and across communities at large, making girls’ education one of the best investments a country can make.

A growing tree is a lot like a growing business, it periodically needs an examination to determine if there are dead branches intertwined with the growing ones. We have employees that are dead in their jobs and attitudes, not growing. They are very often friends with those who are growing and restricting their growth by what they say, do and avoid doing. So as painful and hard as it is, every now and then we need to cut away the people who are restricting the growth of the company. It is hard because we care about those people and because of the friendships that will also be strained, if not severed too.

According to experts, pruning a tree is necessary to promote growth, improve the amount of air and sunlight to the healthy branches and to prevent insect and disease. The same is true with our businesses. Those who are carrying the workload of the nonperforming employees end up feeling used and it is possible to lose them before you trim the dead wood, compounding your problem. So take a look around your company. Is there dead wood that needs to be pruned? Even considering trying bringing a dead braches to life is noble, but not worth the effort it is just better to let it go.

Men and women communicate differently. That is no secret. In order for women in developing countries to learn to share power with men, and thereby become more effective in promoting food security, rural development, and contribute to other societal advancement, we must become critically aware of gender-sensitive communication. These are vital building blocks that will have an impact on generations to come.

Poverty has a different definition in the emerging world than it does in developed nations. The term ‘poverty’ is used broadly in the emerging world to include lack of material resources, minimal or no access to healthcare, limited access to education and information, deprivation of civil rights, minimal — if any — access to economic growth opportunity, professional training and access to capital. In broad strokes, alleviation of proverty would mean betterment of any of these challenges, although measurement of improvement is difficult to measure. Change takes time. A fast track to addressing poverty at all of its levels is access to information. Access to mobile communication is the difference between abject poverty and hope.

This hope will quickly turn into action as newly empowered communities will have access to information beyond the traditional media of television, radio and telephone, which are now all accessible via Internet. Great personal evolution and economic growth will result when previously isolated communities reach out to the rest of the world. Likely, their shortcut to commerce come through embracing digital currencies over cumbersome microfinance instruments.

At Powerstorm Capital Corp., we see a future on the near horizon where our hybrid power solutions will greatly contribute to establishment of thriving communities throughout the emerging world.

Stop saying “should have,” after you lose your job . Start saying “next time.” The former is backward-facing and the latter is forward-facing.

Should have’s correct the past; something impossible to do. When you say “we should have” you belittle past wisdom and efforts

Should-have-leaders honor their critics; something that creates more critics because you get more of what you honor.

Critics frequently don’t participate but judge what was done. Critics sit on the sidelines and seldom offer useful suggestions because they are ignorant of everything that was planned and done. They tear down. If the best you can do is point out failures in others, you’re probably failing yourself.

Participants, on the other hand, offer insightful evaluations that create improvements. They establish platforms that enhance and build the future

Say, “What worked” and “What didn’t work” rather than “What went wrong.” The former acknowledges sincere effort. The latter is negative; it belittles participants.

“Should have” ties you to the past and expresses defeatist attitudes. “Next time” presses into the future and maintains momentum; something all successful leaders do.

Think positive and don’t do anything rush or bitter. As satisfying as it might be, making accusation or sending an email about everything that’s wrong with that company, your ex boss, your ex colleagues, the work place just be smart don’t do it. You need to protect your reputation now more than ever, and a bitter, hostile exit will make that impossible. Being negative holds you in the past and restrains you from the future

Put all the energy in finding the next step up and let the past “What worked” to be the starting point for your future. Better old friends than new enemies.